Comics has long been an industry rife with abuse, exploitation, and seriously problematic behavior from creators and publishers alike. But despite the apparently inevitable, many of us strive to make the space better, to excommunicate those who harm others, and to create authentic work that speaks to our lived experience whilst navigating the often racist,…
The Metabarons: A Rape Comic
Content warning: you don’t want to know any of this. A rapist’s comic, about rape, is discussed and pictured herein. If you visit the Wikipedia page of Alejandro Jodorowsky, you will be able to see that he has claimed himself a rapist. Here’s a section of the quotation with this claim, from a promotional interview…
7 Horrible Superhero Gifts for Your Arch Nemesis
As the holiday season creeps closer, we’re inundated with shining, glittering things trying to tempt us away from our money. But for every incredible fun gift idea we see, there are at least 100 awful things that no one would (or sometimes should!) ever want. So I collected together seven of the worst possible comic…
CB Cebulski’s Asian Mask: Why the Anger?
UPDATE: The Dark Horse statement below has been updated to the correct version. In 2004 a white man named CB Cebulski pretended to be a Japanese one named Akira Yoshida. “Yoshida” wrote comics for Marvel while Cebulski worked as an Editor at Marvel. Cebulski was recently instated as Editor in Chief at Marvel, and with…
Queer Goth Romance: An Interview With Sarah Graley
Sarah Graley—of being Sarah Graley fame—is writing and drawing Kim Reaper, a queer romance comic about a girl named Kim, who is a part-time grim reaper, and Becka, who thinks Kim is really cute. Oni Press, of publishing Kim Reaper fame, gave this writer the chance to ask Graley the important questions. Annie Blitzen: First off, I need…
Rebirth Roundup: Everything From November 22 and November 29
We’re back! I’m sorry for the long hiatus. We missed two weeks due to website issues stemming from our brand relaunch. (Have you checked out our sister sites Ms En Scene, Bookmarked and Sidequest yet?) Then we took a week off in boycott due to DC employing noted sexual harasser Eddie Berganza, after the stories…
Over the Garden Wall is a Fairy Tale Journey Out of Darkness
Nearly every bit of children’s media that adults also happen to enjoy inevitably gets twisted into some darker story: Ash Ketchum is in a coma, Hogwarts is an imaginary sanctuary for an abused child, and My Neighbor Totoro is really about a horrific crime.
Eternal Empire Offers Space Swords but Not Much More
Eternal Empire Jonathan Luna (Story, Art, Lettering) and Sarah Vaughn (Story, Script) Image Comics November 22, 2017 Saia isn’t a nice place. That’s mostly courtesy of the Eternal Empress and her quest to conquer every last country on the continent. Tair (in Essla) and Rion (in Qaara) live similarly depressing lives under the thumbs of…
Showtime: It’s Magic, There Is No Trick
Showtime Antoine Cossé Breakdown Press September 2017 This comic does such a good job of simulating the wanderings of an engrossed but unanchored mind that is back engineers the relaxation of sensory deprivation into your reading body. Your brain is tricked so thorgouhly into accepting the dream that it does some of the work of…
Wild Rose Emerges: An Interview with Nicola R. White
Wild Rose Nicola R. White (writer), Kara Braeun (illustrator), Jono Doiron (colors, cover art) Independent Kickstarter Comic Once upon a time in Canada, an independent comic series was born when a romance novel author read a dark legend about a murdered Irish woman in a children’s book of horror stories. Wild Rose elaborates on the…
Retrospective Chronicle: Two Female Comic Creators Discuss CLAMP
CLAMP is an all-female group of comic creators from Japan, made up of four manga artists: Nanase Ohkawa, Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi and Satsuki Igarashi. Originally formed in the mid-80s, their work spans several decades and countless genres, including Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, X/1999, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, and Magic Knight Rayearth. They’re also the main reason why…
Previously, On Comics: Rights, Rights, Rights
Here we are again, with another week of news from the comics world brought straight to you. We do hope you had some good time off this weekend, whether you had a holiday or not. This week on Previously, there’s some good news and some bad news. We’ll balance it all out for you here….